EU approves CRH purchase of Holcim, Lafarge assets

The European Commission has approved CRH's planned €6.5 billion purchase of assets from rivals Holcim and Lafarge.

Holcim and Lafarge agreed a €40 billion merger last year to create the world’s biggest cement company. However, the sale of €6.5 billion assets was a condition for the Swiss and French companies to merge, set by regulators to satisfy competition concerns.

The European Commission said in a statement that the transaction would raise no competition concerns because the merged entity would still face sufficiently strong competition.

The acquisition will catapult CRH into third spot in the global rankings of building materials groups.

The Irish firm is due to acquire a wide range of assets, the bulk of which are in Europe but the job lot also includes a cement plant in the Philippines. The company’s revenues will rise from about €19 billion to more than €24 billion, while earnings will increase from €1.6 billion to €2.4 billion.